NENA Announces Grant Recipient

Professor Cabrera demonstrates some of the intricacies of his NENA/HRI supported research project, “Use of Alternative Irrigation Water Sources for Urban Landscapes and Nursery Crops.”

BOSTON, Mass. – The New England Nursery Association, in cooperation with the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), announced that Professor Raul Cabrera is the first recipient of the association’s new Industry Growth Fund grant award. After a review of 60-plus grant applications, NENA selected Cabrera’s research project, “Use of Alternative Irrigation Water Sources for Urban Landscapes and Nursery Crops,” as their top recommendation for funding.

In what he termed a “serendipitous turn of events,” Cabrera, who since 1999 has been an associate professor at Texas A & M University, recently accepted an extension and research position with Rutgers University in New Jersey. “This move right next to New England will add another level of synergy [to the collaboration] and yield positive impact and outcomes benefiting the local and national green industries,” he said.

HRI and NENA launched the New England Nursery Association Industry Growth Fund in February 2014. This new purpose-restricted fund is designed to allow grants to be drawn from both the interest and the principal as needed.

The alliance brings together HRI’s 52-year history as the horticulture industry’s leading green industry research and educational foundation with NENA’s vision to maximize organizational funds, collaborate closely with experts, and put investment monies to work where they will directly help the New England commercial horticulture industry.